Party mood at Art Basel, but this is no return to normal for Hong Kong
- The festive atmosphere as Hong Kong begins its annual celebration of art cannot hide concerns about the city’s future as an art market
- Tepid interest from mainland VIPs and the rise of alternative venues in Seoul and Singapore suggest the city has a way to go to turn the corner
Since MCH Holdings – the Swiss parent company of Art Basel – bought a majority stake in Art HK in 2011, the Hong Kong edition of the global contemporary art fair franchise can justifiably claim to be the leading, or perhaps the largest, international art fair in the Asia-Pacific region.
That was definitely the case based on the number of exhibitors and value of art that is bought and sold. In 2019, the fair opened during the first of the mass protests against extraditions to mainland China, which dissuaded visitors from flying in. Even so, 242 galleries took part and a record 88,000 people attended across five days.
Seoul, which like Hong Kong has no tax on the sale of artworks, is now home to a growing number of major international galleries and Frieze Seoul, the new Asia art fair set to be launched in September by Art Basel’s international rival. Frieze was in talks to set up its first Asia fair in Hong Kong a few years ago. In Singapore, Art Basel has reinvested in a new fair called Art SG that opens in January 2023 after selling out in 2018.
Yan Lugen, the often controversial property developer and art investor who has epitomised China’s rise as the world’s second-largest art market through his extravagant and high-profile purchases in auctions and boasting of having more than 50 works by Pablo Picasso, including Woman in a Green Hat, tells me that the city is “no more”.
His main complaint: “Hong Kong will become just like mainland China with all the restrictions, and it hasn’t got scholars and art experts to be anything but an entrepot.”
Art Basel Hong Kong 2022: everything you need to know
Beyond the glitz and the dollar signs, there are also question marks over Hong Kong’s role as a major cultural bridge for China and the West after the protests and the pandemic. For that, you need a diverse population, and artists.
At the moment, Western families are leaving in droves, and so are Hong Kong Chinese artists. So this will not be the moment when the city turns the corner after three hard years.
Enid Tsui is the Post’s arts editor